Any of us who have lost something in an airport may wonder what really happened to if missing camera or lap top. Well, tonight, an abc news investigation has some answers. More often than you think, those items end up in the homes of tsa officers, who are supposed to be looking out for us. Our chief investive correspondent brian ross used a simple technology to track one of them down and uncovered a surprisingly widespread problem. Reporter: Instead of protecting passengers, prosecutors say the tsa officer caught on this airport surveillance tape in memphis was stealing from one. First, at an empty ticket counter, he stashes a laptop left behind at a checkpoint. Then, drapes a jacket over the laptop and walks away. In this case, the tsa officer was caught, convicted and fired. This is the tip of the iceberg. Reporter: New figures show 81 tsa officers have been fired for threat. 11 this year alone. Amid what critics call a culture of indifference and lax oversight. Man, that was easy. Reporter: Pythius brown stole $800,000 in a four-year period. He said he would be tipped off and overhead cameras weren't working and others did the same thing. It became massive. Reporter: Massive? Yeah. Reporter: You weren't the only one? No. Reporter: In our own investigation, involving ten major airports with a history of problems, abc news checked backs with ipads and cash and left behind ipads at tsa checkpoints. All the luggage made it past tsa safely. And at carry-on checkpoints, tsa screening officers did exactly what they are trained to do. Please come back to claim your item. Reporter: But it was a different story in orlando, where our ipad was last seen in the hands of this tsa officer, andy ramirez. Two holater, we were able to track the ipad, as it left the airport and ended up at the tsa officer's home. Brian ross from abc news. Give me a hand here. We're looking for a missing ipad. MISSING iPAD? Reporter: Yeah. When we went to reclaim the i pad two weeks later, ramirez, at first, denied having it. Okay. Reporter: Is it here? No, sir. Reporter: Shortly after we activated an autd owe alarm on the missing ipad. You found it? There it is. Ramirez produced it. With his tsa uniform now off, he blamed his wife for taking it. My wife says she got the ipad and brought it home. Reporter: That can't be true. The last time we saw it, it was in your hands. Ramirez was fired late yesterday by the tsa, which incysts it has a zero tolerance policy for stealing. I cannot believe he blamed it

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